Sceptre (Classic)

Type:	Ranged Weapon
Function:	• Powerful ranged attacks. • Opening the door to the City of Gold.
Source:	Dropped when the Mummy on Level 13 is defeated.
Damage:	Instant Kill (Psychic Rays)
Notes:	Must be forfeited to open the Golden Door.

The Scepter is one of the most powerful ranged weapons in the game, perhaps besides the shotgun.
It is found on level 13 in the Temple, and dropped by the Mummy, which is considered to be the most dangerous enemy in the game.

Functionality

The most advanced weaponry Ancient Egypt has to offer.

The Scepter is a held item that functions as a ranged weapon. It fires pink rings of ancient Egyptian laser beams, which will automatically home in on and kill the nearest enemy. It fires very fast and the rays pass through walls and floors, allowing for perhaps five rings on screen at once (though this is generally excessive: It's more useful for firing at something the previous blast ignored).

It has five major drawbacks, though:

1. The balls of energy will not ignore dead bodies—a major downside, since almost every enemy in Area 4 leaves a corpse.
2. The balls of energy do not differentiate between friend and foe, and can also target damsels and peaceful Shopkeepers (you might not want to fight angry shopkeepers without a good weapon after opening the door to the City of Gold).
3. It can only be obtained by killing a Mummy on level 13, which is possibly the most dangerous enemy in the game, besides Olmec.
4. The Scepter pushes the corpses of its victims upwards, which may make them much more difficult to reach if you want to sacrifice them.
5. You don't get to use the Scepter for long—you'll only get to use it for a maximum of three levels before you reach the Final Area, and Olmec is immune to the Scepter's effects, although it does an excellent job of dispatching the lesser enemies that the final boss spawns.

The Scepter (along with the Hedjet) is a required item to access the City of Gold, but the Scepter must be forfeited to open the Golden Door. As a result, you will not get to use it in the City of Gold or later levels.

Trivia

Spelunky's scepter resembles the Was Scepter, an Egyptian symbol of power often pictured in the hands of gods.